Before he was even tapped by President Trump to lead the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth laid out how he thought the incoming administration should overhaul the armed forces.

There's a chance to course correct it, but it would take the new Trump administration going after it really hard.

This was on the Sean Ryan Show podcast. And at the top of Hegset's list,

well, first of all, you got to fire, you know, you got to fire the chairman of joint chiefs.

That would be General CQ Brown, who was the nation's highest ranking military officer until

Friday night when he was fired. Hegsef had attacked Brown for promoting diversity initiatives in the armed

services. In his book, War on Warriors, he questioned whether General Brown got the job because

he was black. On Fox News, over the weekend, Secretary Hegseth said he has, quote, a lot of respect

for Brown, but that Trump had the right to dismiss him.

There is civilian control of the military. Nothing about this is unprecedented. The president

deserves to pick his key national security and military advisory team. Other presidents have fired

high-ranking generals, though none has fired a chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

They serve four-year terms, often across administrations, and though they do serve at the pleasure

of the president, they take an oath to the Constitution. Some Democrats say Trump's move

undermines that. They want everyone in DOD to be holding to the president, not to the

Constitution. That's the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed of

Rhode Island, speaking there on ABCs this week. They want everyone there to do what they're told,

regardless of the law. And Senator Reid had this question for Brown's successor.

Will he have the ability to speak truth to power?

Consider this.

The Trump administration says it wants a military built on meritocracy.

Critics say it's building one governed by political loyalty.

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